New Pad...Again

The first ever pad by "Organic" to feature metal buckles. They won't even be available until this summer. 

Just Thinking

This picture has nothing to do with anything, I just like it. From the museum in Price, UT.

When I was nine years old, I was playing tag with a bunch of other kids during recess at school. In the midst of all the action my best friend Ryan and I got into an all out brawl with each other. While it was easily the most heated fight of my life at the time (remember I was only nine) I did not then nor do I now have any idea how it started. At the end of recess we both stormed off to our separate classrooms. Then at the next recess, or lunch break (I really don't remember) a beautiful thing happened. We both went right back to being best friends and have remained so ever since.

As an adult when conflict arises between myself and a friend or loved one I find myself asking the question 'why?' The thing is, often times there is no meaningful answer that could bring me any peace of mind. Sometimes shit just happens. Anyway, as child I didn't need any answers to any pointless questions I just wanted my best friend back. So, we just moved on. 

Sometimes I wish things were still that simple.

The Fire Burns Bright

It has been twelve days since I last touched rock and I'm getting very antsy. I was going to go meet up with Kevin and Adam in Yosemite today but my dog decided it was a good time to get sick and so I'm stuck here playing nurse.  

We (meaning the Pomona household) do have a reason to celebrate however. After nearly a year without a working garbage disposal, Peter "Handyman" Newman has installed a brand new 'Badger 5'. No more stinky sink, no more questionable dark matter spewing out of the disposal at totally inappropriate times, and no more disapproving looks from our house guests. Yahoo!

The old nasty

NO DEAL!

I think it would be nice to get rich without having to work for it. Peter seems to think that that is a good idea too. Together we decided to pursue this dream by going to a casting call for the television game show, 'Deal or no Deal' in Folsom. Here's our story.

This is only a fraction of the line

These are some of the awesome people waiting in line.

Peter even saw one of his students there, Paul wants to be rich just like everyone else.

 

                                                    

Alas, the wait in line was expected to be between 15 and 18 hours long, all for a 15 second chance to make an impression. We decided that sushi was a better option.

Our chef at 'Samurai Sushi'

The Horizon

Nancy making me proud

I got a call this morning from my friend and Betabase creator, Paul Barraza. He and several members of the notorious Berkeley Crew have been in Joe's for a few days and were wondering if I was still there. Alas, the answer that I croaked out while choking back tears was not the reply I would have liked to give him, but it was the truth.

I wallowed for a short while after our conversation ended, a million questions running through my mind. When would I get to go back to Joe's? When would I have the opportunity to climb with so many of my friends again? When will I get to climb at full strength? I won't go through the other 999,997 questions I had, but I assure you I had them.

Just as my wallowing was reaching it's crescendo I was torn out of my misery by another phone call. This time it was my boss from Yosemite, Tori. How good it was to hear her voice. She officially offered me my job back, awesome, AND she said I could take a couple weeks off this summer if I want to go to Africa, BONUS! 

So now I find myself in the position of having to find a 'cheap' flight. I found one out of DC for around $1300 that travels through Las Vegas. I found a fair for just the flight from Las Vegas to Capetown (the exact same flight as the one that begins in DC) and it cost an extra $600 dollars. Maybe I could buy the DC ticket but not board until Las Vegas?

Anyway, the sun still rises in the East and sets in the West so I guess all is not lost.

Shoveling Snow

The man, the myth, the legend, Kevin Cuckavich

Kevin Cuckavich is a good samaritan. He spends his rest days shoveling the snow off of the tops of boulders so that he and others can climb on them. Recently, however, this got the young man into trouble.

 

While the rest of us slobs were chilling in the Food Ranch Kevin was out shoveling. It started to get kinda late and we began to wonder, "When is Kevin going to show up?" I had images flashing through my mind of him slipping on some ice atop one of these boulders only to topple over the edge and suffer a compound fracture or worse. Of course I brushed those worries aside and continued eating my salad.

Finally, after I'd finished checking my e-mail, we collectively decided to check up on him.  Peter and Ryan were the first to leave. As I took my place behind the steering wheel of my Subaru, Peter and Ryan pulled back into the parking lot. Who should be riding along in the back seat? None other than our fearless shoveler, "Cuck" (sounds like fluke). Aparently, he'd driven off the side of the road and gotten his rig stuck in the snow. Our abitious boy had driven too far up an unplowed road and had been stuck for some time now. Fortunately for him, a sherif eventually came to his rescue and brought him back to town and helped him find a means to get his 4Runner out of the snow.

This all sounded like great fun to me so I quickly drove up to the scene so that I could take some pictures of the whole mess. Enjoy.

The aftermath

Home

The "Super Sloper"

I just got home a few hours ago. I was able to climb yesterday, albeit not as hard as I would have liked to. Anyway, I was able to climb some of the classics on my list so all was not lost. Nonetheless, I was sad and somewhat reluctant to leave but aside from my physical woes I have some business that requires my attention here at home.

The drive home was more or less uneventful with two small exceptions. The first was the sighting of a condor flying over my car in the middle of the Utah desert. The second was a quick stop at the "Shoe Tree" for lunch and brief break for some entertainment. For those of you unfamiliar with the Shoe Tree, it is a large cottonwood that grows out of a drainage alongside highway 50. It grows in the middle of nowhere, about 30 miles in every direction from any town whatsoever. This tree, for no obvious reason, has been decorated like a demented shoe salesman's Christmas tree. From nearly every branch hangs at least one pair of shoes. From loafers, to ballet slippers, to roller skates, and Chuck Taylors, just about anything with laces hangs from the Shoe Tree.

I stopped at the Tree to make a sandwich and a deposit. Yesterday I wore a hole into the sole of my Muiras so I thought I'd contribute to this surreal communal art piece.